Because we all are part of the one new man, there should not be several works or different works but we all should do the same one work for the unique Body, the universal one new man.
On one hand we all need to take Christ as our corporate person so that we may think the same thing, speak the same thing, and live the church life in the consciousness of the one new man.
On the other hand, we need to let the Lord adjust us and limit us so that we may do only one work, the work for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
The truth is that, if we all believers in Christ take Christ as our person and as our life, spontaneously we will all speak the same thing; then we will be the one new man in reality and practicality.
However, because of so many precedents both in the secular world and in Christianity, many today shy away from this matter of “speaking the same thing” and “having the same mind”, thinking this can be something robotical or mechanical, or there may be some brainwashing involved.
Are we being brainwashed when we think the same thing and speak the same thing?
Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to be of the same mind, think the same thing, and speak the same thing with one mouth in one accord (1 Cor. 1:10); this is not to become robotical or mechanical in our speaking but to be attuned in the same mind as constituents of the one new man.
It is so easy to be distracted from the main revelation in the Bible to so many interesting or practical things that the Bible presents; even the matter of when will the Lord will return and how to find out the year of His return can become something that distracts us and causes us not to speak the same thing.
Many scriptural thing and doctrinal matters can lead us to have a certain school of thought, which in Greek is the same as heresy.
A heresy is not merely having a devilish teaching but to have another school of thought, a religious opinion, and this is the beginning of the factor of divisions.
We need to be attuned in the same mind by paying attention mainly to God’s economy, which is in faith, and we need to allow the Lord to adjust us and harmonise us, attune us and make us of the same mind with Himself and with all the saints, so that we may think and speak the same thing, Christ and the church.
May nothing distract us from the central lane of God’s economy, from taking Christ as our person, and may we take Christ as our person for the one new man so that we may not only speak the same thing – God’s economy – but also do the same one work for the universal one new man!
Rising up together to take Christ as our Person and become the Universal New Man
The church is not merely the assembly of a group of Christians; the church is the fullness of Christ and the one new man on earth.
On one hand there is a great old man on this earth, which is the adamic race, the descendants of Adam. On the other hand, God wants to gain the one new man, the universal new man constituted only of Christ – the Christ in all the believers in Christ.
Because of all the technological advances in transportation and communication, all the peoples of the adamic race on the entire earth have almost become one.
When something happens in one corner of the earth, it is being propagated to reach all the earth, and when something new comes out in one country, everyone can hear about it via the Internet.
This is the “universal old man”; the entire adamic race today has become the universal old man.
Furthermore, the components of this old man are the same in their corruption, evil, filthiness, fornication, and disorderliness.
Especially when you check twitter, Facebook, and other social media websites and networks, you can see the corruption, immorality, rebellion, and ungodliness of men; there’s no cure for this, and the components of the old man cannot be improved.
However, the Lord’s desire is to gain the one new man on the earth; for this, we all need to rise up to take Christ as our person, even our corporate person, so that we may be the universal one new man.
In the matter of our decisions and especially in our speaking, we shouldn’t do things by ourselves or according to what we think it’s right; instead, we should take Christ as our person in the new man and with the new man.
We all need to rise up to take Christ as our corporate person for the one new man. When we do this, the new man grows and matures, and we all arrive at a full-grown man.
Such a requirement is very high, but we have to do it for the sake of the Lord’s purpose, for the sake of God gaining what He is after – the one new man on the earth.
When we take Christ as our person, we also take Him as our life; he who has the Son, has the life – if we have Christ as our person, we have Him as our life.
When we take Christ as our life and person, we will be able to grow and mature in life; the result will be that the Body of Christ will grow, and we will have the adequate measure of stature as the fullness of Christ.
If we take Christ as our person, we will also take Him as our life; Christ as our person is for the growth of the one new man, and Christ as our life is for the increase of the stature of the Body.
Lord Jesus, we want to rise up to take Christ as our corporate person for the one new man and as the one new man! May the one new man grow and mature until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus, may all the saints rise up to take Christ as their person for You to gain the one new man! Gain what You are after, Lord, the one new man in reality and practicality on earth! May we all grow in life for the growth of the Body, and may we all take Christ as our person for the growth of the new man!
Allowing the Lord to Adjust us so that we do the same One Work for the Universal New Man
If we all take Christ as our person for the one new man, we will check with the Lord concerning our decisions, we will allow Him to be the One speaking in us the same thing, and we will do the same work for the universal new man.
There shouldn’t be several works in the Lord’s recovery; rather, all the co-workers in all the regions should do the same work for the unique Body, the universal one new man (Col. 4:11; 1 Cor. 15:58; 16:10; Phil. 3:20).
We all need to consider our present situation before the Lord and ask ourselves, Are we doing the same one work for the Lord’s recovery, or are we doing our own thing, our own work within the work?
If we do our own work, if the Lord has mercy on us to shine and expose our doing, we need to let the Lord have the freedom to adjust us.
We may be diligently doing the work, but we may be doing our own personal work, a work within the work, even a private work or a separate work; we may do a regional work or a national work, and not the same one work for the universal new man.
The one new man is doing a work, but he does one work, which is to build up the Body of Christ.
We should check with ourselves, Is my work in line with the unique work of the Body? Am I doing the same one work for the universal new man?
Many times our problem is not that we do a separate or private work intentionally, but that we do different works without any consciousness; this is dangerous.
We may be doing something for the Lord according to what we can and what we perceive to be the need, but unintentionally and unconsciously, we may do a work that is different from the same one work for the universal new man.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, when we do a different work, it will do damage to the building up of the church. We can’t claim ignorance easily in this matter; we need to pray about it and seek to have the Lord’s light and His mercy.
As God’s fellow workers, those who work together with Him, we should do only one work – the work of the Lord (see 2 Cor. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:9; 15:58; 16:10).
If we read the book of Acts and the Epistles we see that, although Peter and Paul worked in different regions, they didn’t carry out their own two works.
Rather, they had only one work, even though they worked in different regions – Peter was with those of the circumcision, and Paul with those of uncircumcision.
The regions of the work should not divide the churches but rather, the work should be uniquely one.
Concerning the work, the New Testament doesn’t have the consideration of geographical regions; today, for us to bear a “regional flavor” in the work is not scriptural, because all the members of the Body of Christ should bear the same burden.
The color, smell, and appearance of our work should be the same; we should do the same one work for the universal new man.
As those who are taking Christ as our person for the one new man, we must have the assurance that, wherever we are and whatever we do, we are building up the center, the reality, and the goal of the eternal economy of God, which will attain the New Jerusalem!
Living such a life and doing such a work is the ultimate church life – a universal new man taking Christ as His person and living out Christ; this will conclude this age, usher in the kingdom, and bring the Lord back (Eph. 4:24; Phil. 1:20-21; Rev. 11:15).
Lord Jesus, we allow You to adjust us in our work for You so that we may do the same one work for the universal new man. Save us from doing our own work, a private work, or a separate work from the work for the unique Body of Christ. Lord, may we consider our present situation and allow the Lord to shine on us whether we do the same work for the building up of the Body. Shine on us, Lord, and adjust us in our work so that, whether consciously or unconsciously, we may be saved from doing a work that is different the same one work for the unique Body, the universal one new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 3, “One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man,” pp. 324-326, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 9, Practicing the Church Life, Speaking the Same Thing, and Doing the One Work in the Consciousness of the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In the stream! in the stream! let us work for the Lord, / By His mind, in His way, as revealed in His Word; / In the flow of His life let us work with His pow’r / For His Kingdom and Church in the time of His hour. (Hymns #909)
– And now the corporate life we live— / Christ in His Body known; / Where every portion adds more Christ, / Until the whole is shown. / O Hallelujah, one new man! / Our portions blend as one; / In one accord, express the Lord, / And He will quickly come. (Hymns #1182)
– For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230)
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